A woman found guilty of killing a Chicago police officer in 2008 has been sentenced to life in prison. (Published Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014)

A woman found guilty of killing a Chicago police officer in 2008 has been sentenced to life in prison.

A Cook County judge sentenced Robin Johnson Wednesday to natural life in prison without parole for the shooting death of Officer Richard Francis.

Francis, a 27-year veteran of the force, was responding to a call of a disturbance at the Belmont and Western bus stop and confronted Johnson, who had been involved in a fracas with another woman on a CTA bus.

Francis’ wife, Deborah, said Wednesday that her family is still distraught from the murder, and the guilty verdict offered them little closure.

“Our family was completely torn apart by his murder,” she said in a statement.

Attorneys for Johnson asked for a minimum sentence Wednesday, arguing that she had been suffering from seizures that caused her to become combative during that time and that she did not remember what happened.

But Judge Thomas Gainer instead handed down a maximum sentence of life in prison.

"Robin Johnson, you earned that sentence," he said.

"The most difficult days in my 33 years as a police officer have been when a colleague who devoted their life to protecting public safety is killed in the line of duty," said Chicago Police Supt. Garry McCarthy. "It is a measure of comfort, even if bittersweet, to bring to justice the woman who murdered Officer Richard Francis. On behalf of the entire Chicago Police Department, I want to thank all those involved in bringing this offender to justice."